Aussie tennis star Thanasi Kokkinakis has admitted he might have played his last ever US Open after he was forced to withdraw before his first-round match in New York. The 30-year-old was due to take on Spanish wonder kid Rafael Jodar on Wednesday morning (Australian time), but pulled out at the 11th hour.
Kokkinakis suffered a sprained ankle in Cincinnati last month and had been racing the clock to be fit for the US Open. But ultimately his body failed him once again and he was forced to withdraw.
Thanasi Kokkinakis has endured a horrible run of injuries. Image: Getty
After a decade battling back, shoulder, abdominal, knee and arm injuries, Kokkinakis admits he is losing patience and doesn’t know whether he’ll be back at the New York grand slam. “It is a possibility for sure,” the 30-year-old told AAP when asked if his US Open career might be over.
“I’m not going to say never. The thing is I feel like the tennis part, I’ve still got a lot of good tennis left in me.
“On the limited matches that I’ve played, I’ve shown that I’m more than good enough to still compete and then beat some good players. But, to be honest, I’m sick of going into tournaments not feeling like I can do it physically and everyone asks me how my body is.”
Thanasi Kokkinakis battled through a shoulder and pec injury for years. (Photo by Andy Cheung/Getty Images)
Currently ranked 417 in the world due to a wretched run of injuries, Kokkinakis used his ‘protected ranking’ to play the US Open. It was the fifth of nine protected ranking entries that players are allowed.
Tennis fans rally around Thanasi Kokkinakis
But the Aussie veteran is ruing the fact he “wasted” it in New York and never made it on court. The one-time Roger Federer vanquisher is now planning to continue his recovery and hopes to be fully fit for the Australian summer.
“I want to go into it being confident in myself and, if I do win, give myself a chance to back up and try and play again,” Kokkinakis said. “That’s always the thing. So it’s about feeling strong in myself. I’ll definitely obviously give the next Aussie a crack and see where I’m at after that.”
Tennis fans were left saddened for Kokkinakis on social media, with many wishing him a speedy recovery and hoping for the best. One person wrote: “Such a talented player and so unlucky, hit by injury after injury.” Another wrote: “He cannot catch a break.”